I greatly appreciate the thoughtful responses. Obviously, I'm working well outside academia now and am naïve as far as requirements are concerned. It has been a few years, but I have spoken with a professor at the university and they felt 25 years in public administration in addition to a master's degree would make it possible for me to teach at the university. The school is fairly small, requires strict religious adherence and is not in a location many would find desirable. Professors focus almost exclusively on teaching.
The comments related to the pursuit of a PhD for the purposes of teaching and not research are very enlightening. I assumed many people sought a "terminal degree" for the purposes of teaching in universities not necessarily for research. I must have had that thought stuck in my head since I wasn't aware of my professors pursuing research during undergrad.
Hard to say without knowing the institution. If you want to PM the name to me, or post more info about the school here, I can probably give more feedback. For example, by 'liberal arts institution' do you mean that it doesn't grant degrees beyond the BA? How big is the student body? Is it located in a "desirable" area, such as a major city? How selective or prestigious is it (US News rankings are a decent proxy for this). How many people are currently tenure-track faculty in the poli sci department? What is the course load (ie - how many classes do faculty typically teach per semester)? Are you looking to adjunct, or get a tenure-track job?
There are exceptions, for sure, but to be competitive for a tenure-track job in political science at most liberal arts institutions, you will need a Ph.D. from a full-time, brick and mortar program with a good reputation in the field. And even then, the chances of you getting hired at any specific institution would be very very small. The calculation might change if, for example, the college in question is a non-selective institution in a very rural or economically depressed area, with a faith requirement for professors (all factors that will reduce the applicant pool).
Adjuncting is more realistic at most institutions. However, to adjunct at the liberal arts college I used to work at, a part-time, online program would probably have hurt more than it helped. The masters alone might have been enough, though.
To answer some of historienne's questions - Very few degrees beyond a BA, 4,000 students, located in a very small city (25k people), not highly ranked, and is a private/Christian school.
I'm hoping to speak with the department chair before the end of the year to get a better understanding of how I should prepare to compete for a position in 9 years. If it is foreseeable a terminal degree will be a requirement to be a full-time professor within the next 9 years, I'm hearing in the responses a PhD may not suit me because it is not a teaching credential, will be focused on research and requires a full-time commitment. Does this sound accurate?
It's not that, exactly. It's that:
- The Ph.D. is a crapload of time and expense for very little (if any) return in your case. If the person you talked to thought that your 25 years in public administration plus the masters you already have (yes?) is sufficient, then leave it at that. The Ph.D. is not going to make you more hire-able enough to be of any worth to you.
- You are likely only to be able to get a part-time adjunct position, if anything at all. Again, the Ph.D. is just not worth pursuing because it won't change that.
- Even at a small place like the university you're talking about, they are likely to have quite a few applicants for any full-time job. Most of those applicants will be young Ph.D holders, and they will likely be seen as more competitive than you, even if you do get a Ph.D, for a number of factors. Bluntly put, an older person with a new/recent Ph.D. will not be seen as good a candidate as a younger person with a new/recent Ph.D.
Getting a full-time position at that university in 9 years is, frankly, probably a pretty long shot. There would have to be: a) a full-time position that just happens to open up at that time (are you looking for tenure track? that's even less likely); b) in a field and sub-field that you have experience with (that is, a full-time instructor at a place like that would be expected to teach general courses in the field, but also the department would probably be looking for someone to teach one or two very particular upper-level courses and your expertise would have to line up with that course sufficiently for you to look like the best candidate to teach it); c) for a full-time position, especially tenure track, you'd have to go through a pretty bureaucratic hiring process involving a committee of 4-6 people making the decision. So it's not at all as simple as the department chair looking through applications, bringing you in, and deciding which one gets the job.
Without more information, here's what I would say your best bet would be:
- go to the department's website and look at the list of courses they currently offer. See what you can learn about who is tenured/tenure track, and who are adjunct ("instructors"). This will give you some idea of how many people teach in the department. Also look at their course offerings, to see which courses you are currently qualified to teach. Be honest with yourself.
- Since you want to teach there in 9 years, and you don't have a Ph.D. I would say your best bet is to start trying to get your foot in the door now. This is still a long shot. But would you be able to start teaching an occasional class for them now or in the near future? If so, nine years from now, if you had taught for them -- perhaps taken on an extra class as needed, and shown yourself to be reliable -- you'd be a known quantity. If by some chance a full-time position were to open then, you'd be a known quantity, and that might help your chances. If you think you might be able to do that, go talk to the department chair about your interest in teaching there. Bring your CV, and ask them what they think the outlook is long-term.